Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran said in a statement on Sunday that today’s extensive explosions have left no crew members alive, extending condolences to the breaved families and the Iranian nation.
The Panama-registered Iranian oil tanker, Sanchi, with 32 crew members on board, caught on fire after colliding with a Hong Kong cargo ship on Jan. 6, 160 nautical miles (296 km) from China’s east coast.
On Saturday, two more bodies of the crew members were found and the ‘black box’ was retrieved. The first body had been found on Monday.
Iran had dispatched a team of army commandos and a delegation from the Parliament’s National Security Commission for search and rescue operations.
Toxic gases, smoke and fire had prevented rescuers to board the ablaze tanker in search of the missing crew.
The statement also confirmed the complete sinking f the oil tanker.
According to Minister of Labor and Welfare Ali Rabiee, who heads the follow-up committee on Sanchi oil tanker, the Chinese side has lost all hope of finding the bodies of the sunken crew members, but the Iranian delegation will still look into the matter.
MS
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